Our December
by Fancy.Cricket97
Summary: She left nine years ago, she left the band, she left her home and she left him. Now, some things have changed in nine years, but some things, some things, for better or worse, are just as you remember them. Yes I based the title on a Linkin Park song, it's a good song. Though this is not a song fic, just a short Corey and Laney story. T for mature language.
1. Chapter 1

**I know what you're thinking; Cole! We waited two and a half weeks for you to make something that will take three weeks to read! what are you doing writing a short story!? Well... I'm sorry? I don't know... I spent a lot of time on this trying to tell the story I wanted and I still could've done more with it, but! I don't want to just leave you to wonder where I went, so here's something we consider our pride and joy so far, just because working on it was so much fun and I really hope you like it, **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

"I can't believe you!" Her voice came from outside and rang through the garage on the summer day.

"I thought you'd be excited, this is like… A dream come true for us," He defended though just as stern in his tone as she.

"No Core! This is your dream come true, did you even stop for like… Three seconds and think about what I want? What Kin and Kon want?" She snapped at him.

Kin and Kon uncomfortably sat on the sofa in the garage. They didn't look at each other or try to pay any attention to their arguing band mates outside. They shared a glance from time to time and shuttered when they heard a particularly bad snap from one or the other.

"Everything will be fine Lanes,"

"No it won't! You always do these crazy things and just expect everything to go greatly, but this time… You really expect us to just, tour around America? Where will we get the money? Or enough songs with lyrics! You can't just decide these things without asking us first."

"We'll find a way, we always do, I think you're over reacting, big time." Corey said and shrugged.

"Corey, what am I supposed to tell my parents? 'Oh by the way, I'm leaving for the next year and a half, see ya!' It doesn't work that way! Why can't you just talk to us before signing us up for everything!"

"Why? Because of this, right here, you always have to second guess my plans, but they always work out, every single time, if I told you, we might have lost a killer opportunity because you were too busy worrying over nothing!" Corey finally snapped at her.

"I worry because you don't, I'm rational, this… This is the craziest thing you've ever put together!" She screeched back at him.

Kin and Kon didn't know what to do, their band mates had been fighting more often than not, and it reflected in their music. All the brothers could do is sit and hope one of them apologizes, calms down and everything goes back to normal.

"Maybe we shouldn't have pushed them into a relationship…" Kin said to his brother and Kon nodded.

"But everything we did, we did in the name of love," Kon tried as something crashed against the garage door.

"Laney!" Corey called from outside. "You busted my guitar!"

"I'm going home," Laney said cruelly and walked off down the street.

"Fine! Come back when you've calmed down!" After that, Corey walked back into the garage and tiredly sat down on the cushy chair next to Kin and Kon's sofa. The twins didn't know what to say their leader but rather, nervously stared at him. "What's her problem?" He asked without looking at them.

"Well, Core, it wouldn't have hurt to tell us about your plan before just… Going ahead and doing it." Kin offered. "Not that it's a bad plan, a tour would be, totally awesome."

"Yeah, Laney just wants to be clued in is all," Kon reaffirmed.

"Well, with me out of a guitar, and down a bass player, I guess the tour's cancelled anyway." Corey was still clearly exhausted. "You guys wanna play ping pong?"

"Let's just watch some T.V." Kon said and flipped it on. "Oh I love this show!" he clapped his hands quickly.

"Yeah! I hope there's a second season, or a third, or maybe even a forth!" Kin agreed but it was still painfully obvious Corey was still upset over Laney. "And uh… Stuff…"

"Why do we need her? It's not like she's the best bass player we've seen…" Corey grumbled more to himself. "And she's so…"

"Corey, we get it, you're angry, but don't ruin TDI time for Kon and me," Kin ordered and Corey quieted down.

"Hey! Dweebuses!" Trina called from her balcony above the garage. "I'm going to the mall to watch as Nick Mallory works behind a store counter, so don't bother me!" She said and got into her pink car.

"We won't…" Corey angrily said off to the side.

"Good, well, don't." She said again.

"We. Won't." he said slightly colder.

"Like, totally yeah right, you're like, planning something or whatever, don't ruin this for me." Trina kept at it as Corey just sat, unmoving and staring at the ground. "Uh, like hello or whatever? Corey, are you even like, listening to me?"

"Shut up Trina," He said lowly and faced her.

"Like, excuse me?"

"Stop talking," He said forcefully. "I'm not going to try anything, I'm not going to ruin this for you, so just go! Go, and leave us alone, go and fail at getting the guy that, every. Single. Girl. Wants, girls who are prettier than you, girls who are nicer than you, there are so many better choices than you, it's not even funny!" And leaned back into his chair, Trina was speechless for a moment before simply driving off and leaving the garage quiet again.

"Gee Core, that was kinda harsh man," Kin said turning from the T.V. show.

"I don't care…" Corey got up from his chair. "I'm going to bed,"

"At five in the afternoon?" Kon asked as they watched him go without another word. Kin and Kon faced each other with a certain amount of concern for their band, but put it off and returned to their television show. "If Heather wins this I'm going cry," Kon said to his brother.

"Yeah me too, me too," Kin nodded in agreement.

The sun shined on a sleeping Kon's face as the new day started. The twins had fallen asleep on the couch, but both of their band mates were absent from the garage, which was unusual, they were usually here by the time Kon woke up. Kin awoke shortly after and they surveyed the empty garage with great concern, there was the sound of heavy lifting outside, and a truck horn went off. The morning seemed to be starting off as anything but calm. Kin and Kon quickly scrambled up into their clothes from yesterday and bolted out to the scene of a moving truck backing out of a nearby driveway. Corey was already observing the scene with a great amount of worry on his face and Laney's bass slung over his shoulder.

"Who's moving?" Kin asked but Corey didn't give an answer and simply continued to stare as it pulled onto the street, followed by a red van, loaded with boxes and packages strapped to the roof.

"Laney…" He finally said and the van drove right passed them with a very sullen Laney clearly visible in the back seat. "Laney!" Corey cried out and ran after the car.

"Corey!" Kin and Kon said in unison and quickly ran after him. Sadly neither was quiet as fast as Corey, but in one epic leap, they tackled him down onto the hot pavement.

"Get off guys! We have to catch up to her!"

"We can't catch a car Core!" Kin said on top of him. "Besides, didn't you say we didn't need her?"

"No! Well, yes, but I didn't mean it! I was angry and stupid and… Kin, can't you make something to catch up to that car?"

"That'd take too long; we don't even know where she's going… She didn't mention moving? Not once?" Kin lectured back and they all stood up as Corey watched the car fade in the distance. His mouth was quivering, and it was the first time Kin and Kon saw Corey genuinely saddened or disappointed in something. The first time things didn't go how he'd planned them out.

"Laney…" He whispered to the wind and just seemed to leave it at that, the three stood silently as the light breeze blew past their faces, it seemed to happen so fast. One moment she was there and the next, she wasn't. "… I didn't even say goodbye… I'm so sorry"

"Maybe she'll be back for her bass?" Kon tried to be hopeful. "Or we could call her."

"She didn't have a phone, and I get the feeling she won't be back for this…" Corey said and went back inside the garage to a cackling Trina,

"Like O.M.G!' She said between her laughs. "Corey's super annoying bass dude left? Life is like totally fantabulous right now! You can't be a band without a bassist," She smugly rubbed Corey's face in the fact Laney was gone. Corey had one hundred different insults back for her, but couldn't think of one, Laney was gone and his thoughts seemed to be stuck on that fact. Kin and Kon approached their depressed leader with mixed feelings, yesterday they were at each other's throats, now Corey looked more broken than ever.

"I gotta say, I'm a bit surprised that you're this upset she's gone," Kon said.

"Kon, have you ever heard the expression you don't know what you have until it's gone?" Corey sat up, slightly offended.

"Well, it only happened ten seconds ago, I'm sure you'll be back to the old Corey before you know it!" Kin and Kon both tried cheering him on, and it was difficult to stay depressed with around their cheerful spirits.

"I'm going to miss her… I know that…"

**Future chapters will be longer, this is simply the introduction, I mean, look at that word count, I couldn't write that much in five chapters this long! **


	2. Welcome Home

The brisk hair filled her lungs as she took her first breath off the bus and stepped onto the freshly fallen snow. Her red hair was concealed with a black and green winter hat and she was bundled in a warm winter jacket ending in large boots fit for combat and a small suit case trailing behind her. After her first step was taken, she spun in a light circle in the pure bliss of once again standing in her home town. She revealed at seeing the town exactly as she left it, nine years ago, painted white by the snow. It all felt new, but still all felt very familiar. Right behind her, stepped off a boy of similar age, his hair was longer than even hers, long and blonde, and he wore a simple jacket and jeans combo, with a wooden guitar slung around his back.

"Oh my god…" Laney said staring at all the scenery. "I'm back…" She whispered in awe.

"Well, don't forget who paid for you to come here," The boy behind her called unloading his suitcase from the bus's side compartment. "It's not as if a ten hour bus ride is very fun…"

"It was fun for me," She answered and cheerily began walking down the streets she was once so familiar with. Some shops had changed, others had grown, all in all though, it was still the Peaceville she remembered.

"Wait up!" The boy said and hurried after her. "Jesus Laney, we can't start sightseeing yet, we need to find where we're going to be staying."

"There are a few hotels that always have rooms, I don't know if you've noticed by now, but tourism isn't Peaceville's main source of income." Laney said, still very carefree in her demeanor. "Oh, you know what, there's a bar around here I've always wanted to go in and now I'm old enough and—"

"No Laney, we're finding a place to stay first, and we're not going anywhere near a bar, you know alcohol is the devil's minion."

"Chet, we don't have to drink there, I've just always wondered what it's like inside, but fine, let's just see if we can find a place to sleep." She sighed and gave up her argument when a man, running full speed bumped into her and kept running. "Hey!" She shouted after him.

"Sorry miss! But the show's starting!" The man called back and continued his sprint.

"The poor man believes that there's a show worth enjoying in this town?" Chet said without much thought behind it.

"Let's go see it! Please?" She begged him.

"No, we must find shelter, for that is what the lord would want us to do, if we do not prepare for every situation we shall be left wanting" And Laney just rolled her eyes at Chet's assumptions.

"Fine," She sighed again. The search for a hotel room took longer than Laney expected, three out of the four hotel's she could think of had been closed or torn down, and the final one had almost no room, a few reserved suits but nothing in their price range. It was tedious to say the least. Laney rolled her bag to a nearby bench and tiredly sat down, after three hours of walking around town, she figured she deserved a break.

"Can we go to that bar now? I'm hungry, and I refuse to eat at Belchy's." Laney begged again to Chet.

"…Very well, but no alcohol," he said sternly.

"Deal, I think I'll rest here for another minute though…" Laney leaned her head back on the metal bench and closed her eyes for a moment. "I didn't realize how tired I was, too excited to see this place again."

"Do you even remember where this bar is?" Chet asked with suspicion.

"Yeah, me and my…" Laney stopped before her next word came out. "…Friends walked past it all the time." The two made their way through town, they only passed a few people, and they were all in a rush to get one place or another. That was the main difference that Laney noticed, people were very panicked now, or eager to get home, she couldn't tell but nobody like to stay on the streets. As she walked with Chet, a slow moving police car pulled up next to them and lowered its window.

"Hey, where are you two going?" The police woman hollowed from her car and the two quickly turned.

"Uh, the Peppy Pooch Bar?" Laney answered a tad bit confused.

"Ah, you're new here," The officer mused. "Alright, well first of all the Peppy Pooch was bought by some punks a few years ago, they cleaned up the place but I still haul a drunk or two out of there every night, and it's occasionally the owners, it's now called The Rock God's Palace, I.D. will be needed to get inside and curfew around here is eight o'clock, so don't be on the streets in the next three hours okay?" Laney opened her mouth to asked further question.

"Thank you officer, we'll get going." Chet said in place of her and kept moving her along. "Laney, I'm not going someplace where drunks freely walk around, they're all sinners,"

"So redeem them, I'm going to this place, with or without you." Laney said firmly and kept walking. Chet looked up at her confused, in the nine years he'd known her, she'd never been so dead set on doing anything. At long last, Laney found the large flashing sign that read "Rock God's Palace." And she quickly opened the door. Inside was a cute looking girl behind a podium and further beyond her was a staircase down. The décor was simple and wooden, but all the walls were painted black with graffiti painted over that. Skulls, lightning bolts, even a golden tiger claw, decorated the walls and ceiling and Laney loved it all. Chet finally arrived behind her and took in the room with her, though his reaction was less than satisfactory. Laney stared at it all in awe, and it was just the first room.

"This place is—" She began.

"Horrible," Chet finished with a grunt.

"Oh come one, there's a golden tiger claw up there? What's cooler than that?"

"It wouldn't kill them to keep a cross around…"

"Lighten up dude, this place looks awesome," Laney patted her friend on the back and approached the girl behind the podium. "So… How does this work?"

"That depends if you want to eat or drink," The politely answered. "Either way you'll get to watch the band but, if you ask for a table there's a forty minute wait, the bar is always open while you wait though."

"Do you have a… Menu we could look at? For pricing of course," Chet asked behind Laney.

"Oh, everything is under five dollars,"

"What do you sell? Chicken tenders?" Laney asked sarcastically.

"Oh, we do have those, but no, the only thing that costs that five dollars is the filet mignon steak," And Laney's jaw just dropped in awe.

"Is the owner an idiot?" Chet asked.

"Oh no, we see enough business that price is enough to still bring in the crowds, the beer is far more expensive, plus people always seem to give money after their show, so money isn't exactly the problem here, we could set up several locations around town, but the owners want us to stay here for some reason, not the way I'd handle a growing business but hey, I'm getting money towards my college fund, so as long as I get out of this horrible town I'm happy to work here." The girl said and mentally slapped herself. "Sorry, I reveal too much about myself, do you want a table or bar?"

"Uh… How long was that wait?" Laney asked.

"Forty minutes, we'll buzz you when your table is ready." She retained a pleasant smile.

"We'll be in the bar," Chet reluctantly said and the girl handed them a buzzer.

"Right this way," She said and walked down the stairs, through another hallway and to another door.

"Is that door really necessary?" Laney asked.

"A lot people complained that they could hear the music outside, so this door serves as a sound proof wall," And as soon as she opened the door the sound of rock filled the air. Drums beating like the heart of all music and a electric guitar on a wicked solo, lights of reds, purples and oranges circled to add atmosphere and the hostess girl waited for the two to enter. "I know it's scary the first time, but I have to show you to your seats and return to my post, so come on,"

"Never. Again!" The vocalist could be heard from inside and the crowd called something back, but Laney couldn't quite make it out as they both entered with the hostess. "*Will I be your fool, never again, will I fall for you!"

"Here are your seats," The hostess led Laney and Chet to a booth, "Just make sure you don't get too drunk so that you don't know what the buzzer does and enjoy the band." She smiled and walked off. Laney looked over to the playing band but quickly returned her gaze to Chet when he began talking.

"You like this?" He asked her.

"You don't? You have a rock band, isn't this pretty rock?" And Laney surveyed this room's graffiti.

"Christian rock, we bring God's message through music, this is… Pointless babble, from people who try to cope with knowing they're going to hell." He said in disgust.

"Come on, you don't believe that, do you?" Then a waitress came by for their orders.

"Water, for both of us." Chet insisted and his gaze moved to the band on the small stage. "Look at that man…" And Laney finally had a chance to see this band. To her surprise, there were only two people, one behind the drums, and the other with a guitar in front of a microphone. The man in front, had an orange baseball cap on, turned around to face backwards and a tad bit of blue hair falling from around the hat. For being so cold outside, he wore a T-shirt that showed off his lean muscles with a chain and pendant dangling around his neck, a pair of ripped jeans, all ending in a pair a worn pair of grey and white sneakers. The man behind him had a torn, red bandana around his head, he appeared to be on the heavier side, but played the drums with wicked speed, she couldn't see his outfit as well, but she didn't have to.

"Oh my god…" Laney said in awe and stood up from her seat.

"Laney?" Chet asked but she kept walking in a trance. The song ended, and the crowd wildly cheered as the front man took hold of the microphone.

"Thank you all, now, this next song is from me and Kon's childhood, one of our first songs, but Grojband was a tad bit bigger then so the songs have been rewritten musically wise and…" He trailed off as Laney came into the light next to their stage and he stared at her for a few moments before his grin grew almost to fill his entire face. "Laney Penn," He said and hoped of stage. "Ladies and gentleman, we have a rare honor here right now, my long lost best friend and Grojband's old bassist, Laney!" And a cheer worthy of a stadium followed his stadium came answered him.

"Corey holy shit… What are you doing here?"

"Laney!" Kon happily called from his drum set and quickly tackled Laney into a monster of a hug. Laney couldn't help but laugh inside Kon's arms and pat him on the head.

"Well, we're currently playing a set list that ends with Dog Gone, wanna help out?" Corey offered and a spot light shined on the back of the room. There, in cased in glass and mounted on a wall, was her old base, looking newer than ever.

"You mean it?" Her eyes sparkled a little.

"Of course I do, unless you want to keep making that… Weird music that you make now,"

"Oh… You saw that album?" She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

"On itunes, Kon and I listened to some songs…" Corey turned back to Kon and he had an uncomfortable look and shook his head. "We didn't buy it…"

"Totally don't blame you," She whispered.

"Laney, what are you doing?" Corey heard Chet's voice and looked back to him with a raised eyebrow. "Let's get back to our seats," But Laney looked at Corey hopefully.

"Who's that clown?" Corey asked and Chet stepped in between Laney and Corey.

"Chet Johnson," He introduced.

"Ah, you're that guy who couldn't strum a guitar correctly and kept swearing in the back ground of that album," Corey said with a confident smile and Chet burned up a little.

"My music sounds twice as good as yours and we preach his holy word to his children, you just make noises with a guitar." He spat at Corey.

"You mean like this?" And Corey broke out into a skillfully played solo, his fingers danced across the strings and his pick flew up and down so fast it was difficult to keep track of, Laney was convinced had be gone any faster his fingers would burn off. When he stopped his guitar in a matter of seconds, the crowd answered with another roaring applause. "That's just noise?" Chet cringed at them with anger and turned back to their seats.

"Come on Laney," And Laney looked between the two with conflict filling her gut.

"It's okay Lanes, you can play with us some other time, we're here all day every day, besides, Kon has to go make some killer desserts, right Kon?" Corey turned to his drummer and Kon put on a chef hat.

"Mega Chocolate bomb coming up!" He jauntily said and ran back to the kitchen, which left Corey on stage to take care of the equipment and packing it away so nobody could mess with it. Laney and Chet sat back in their booth, her gaze still on Corey.

"I cannot believe such people exist… Don't they even care about heaven's gates?" Chet asked her but she was still watching as Corey took apart the drum set. "Laney?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, yeah, God and stuff," She absent mindedly nodded her head.

"Don't be tempted by his body, he is a sinner, like everyone else in this place,"

"Lighten up, he's a good guy, so what if he's not the holiest,"

"Isn't he the one that made you bitter towards the world when you first came to Utah?" Chet reminded her.

"I was a thirteen year old girl who just had her first break up, of course I would over react."

"Alright people," Corey said on the microphone. "It's karaoke time, the machine is set up and mikes on, bonus points for anyone who sings one of our songs, stay beautiful and we'll see you in another three hours." And with that Corey ran off into the kitchen after Kon and people slowly formed a line on stage. Corey burst into the kitchen where Kon was hard at work, along with some hired help, and he patted his friend on the back.

"Corey!" Kon turned around to him. "Laney is back! Can you believe it? It's like we're… Almost… A band again," Kon made himself sullen and put his head down.

"I know you miss him, but Kin will be back, I promise," Corey said with a weak smile and Kon nodded, returning to his cooking task. Corey sat in at his small, poorly lit desk, put his legs on the table and began reading letters, most of them bills. He quickly became uninterested in them and simply rocked in his chair with his hands behind his head. For whatever reason, Laney was back, and he wasn't about to complain, they hadn't spoken since she left, but he did keep tabs on her. Despite his hate for the genre, Corey was impressed by the small Christian rock band's success they were popular with a lot of people, but he assumed Laney carried the band.

"Sir?" The hostess came into his office with a concerned expression.

"What's up Bianca?" Corey looked up from his thoughts.

"There's a… scene going on outside,"

"Another bar fight?" Corey guessed.

"I wish… Could you please come out?"

"Can do," Corey sat up and followed Bianca out; he pushed open the kitchen door to the sigh of a crowd circled around something. "Excuse me, pardon, uh, hey, nice pants." Corey pushed his way into the scene. "Alright what's going on here," The scene in front of him was a man on a bar stool, sullenly looking into his glass and the man Laney walked in with behind him.

"I just want to drink in piece…" The man said sadly.

"I saw you! You stole money from this fine bar tender's tip jar, not to mention that's your twelfth glass so far, drinking will not solve your problems!" Chet accused the man.

"Alright, everybody calm down, hey dude, is what he says true? Did you steal from Eric here?" Corey referenced the bar tender. Slowly the man reached in his pocket and brought out a few bills adding up to twenty dollars.

"See! He's a thief," Chet said angrily.

"I was going to use it to but more drinks…" Said the man and he stood up from his stool. "I didn't mean to cause a scene…"

"It's all good dude," Corey said and took out a twenty from his wallet and gave it to the man, "Just let Eric get his tips, he has to pretend to like everybody so he definitely earns them. Twelve glasses is a lot though, something wrong with your life?" The man was silent for a time and took a deep breath.

"I got a call from the mayor… I was laid off today, and my wife left me in a matter of minutes, left with our little boy… I got nothing to live for so if you want to throw me in jail, that's fine…" He said without looking at Corey.

"What did you do before this?" Corey asked him.

"I worked construction," The man answered.

"Good, we need a new handy man, you're hired." Corey said happily and the man looked around, completely dumb founded. "You'll start at five next week on Monday, the bathroom wall caved in somehow,"

"You're… Serious? How drunk am I?" The man said dizzily.

"Very, but I'm serious, I'll call a taxi to take you home, what's your name again?"

"R.. Rodger,"

"Welcome to the Rock God's servitude Rodger," Corey happily patted him on the back and turned to Chet. "I guess I should thank you for finding me a new handy man,"

"He is a criminal," Chet said lowly.

"No, he's a victim of this town, one who just lost his son, the last thing he needs is a preacher telling him he's a fuck up." And Corey faced the crowd. "Back to Karaoke everyone, and the Rock God is always looking for more servants if you're down on your luck." And with that the crowd dispersed except for Chet and a newly revealed Laney.

"I should call the police on this establishment…"

"And tell them what? I hired a guy?"

"He needs a church, not more alcohol."

"Isn't there some line in the bi ble… Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? If your life just got royally screwed up, you wouldn't want to hear some… Holier than thou speech, you'd want to know, if only for a little bit, everything will be okay. You can't force god on these people, he's just there when they need him most, and that's what I try to do." Corey said and Kon turned off all the lights except the one above Corey. "Everyone is different, so the same method wouldn't work for everyone to find happiness, but I think, I think God created life so that we could live a good life and have fun in our lives, if the world's a stage then I'm going to give it one hell of a show and wear a smile while doing it." And Kon brought the lights on again.

"Core, killer lyrics right there," Laney smirked at her old saying.

"Well I have Kon write down everything I say, just in case," And Kon waved a piece of paper in the air triumphantly. "And we'll turn that into a song later tonight, in the mean time, can we drink with you guys? We have plenty to talk about,"

"I'd like that…" Laney said with a slight smile playing on her lips.

"I wouldn't, thank you for your offer, but Laney and I really need to find a place to stay for the night," Chet said and tried to push Laney towards the door.

"Yeah, Mayor Jolly has made it hard for tourist to stay here, you can crash with Kon and me if you want," Corey offered and at the offer, Kon presented a puppy dog face to beg them to stay.

"Absolutely not, I refuse to spend any more time around you than I have to,"

"Come on Goldie Locks, what other choice do you have?" Corey laughed a little.

"Please Chet? We're here until Christmas, we might as well have a comfortable place to sleep," Laney reasoned with him, Chet weighed his options and ultimately gave up.

"Fine…" He said lowly.

"Fantastic, we got one more set list, then we can head to the garage, but for now—"

"You still have the garage!?" Laney's eyes sparkled for a moment.

"Hell yeah, when my dad died, Trina was at college and since I didn't go to college, I just took over the house." Corey said proudly.

"You didn't go to college?" Chet asked him.

"I tried, dropped out, I don't need someone to tell me how to play music, I just play it, actually let's get a table, my legs are tired from standing all this time." And Corey waved to someone who nodded and went up the stairs. "Here we go, this is our table now," He pointed to a four chair table and he, Kon, Laney and Chet took a seat. "So, where to begin,"

"I'll go first," Laney spoke up. "Core, what the hell happened to this town?"

"Ah, good story, one worth telling with a violin in the background," Corey mused and Kon pulled a small stereo from nowhere, pressed play and sad music began to play. "After Mayor Mellow was locked up by his competitor, Mayor Jolly took the reins of Peaceville and our funds were incredibly small, so Jolly cut off all funding for pageants, the zoo was shut down, police salaries are up, this bar is one of the last places people come to have fun, and I have to pay a lot of money to keep everything fresh, we petitioned President Smith that we're becoming a dictatorship here, but nothing's happened yet, so for now, he hold out until we can either all move away, something happens or we all die, and Kon and I do what we can." Corey finished and patted Kon on the shoulder.

"Wait… Kon, where's Kin? At college or something?" Laney asked again and Kon's eyes grew watery for a few moments before he burst out crying.

"Aw, come here big guy," Corey said and they hugged. "Kin was arrested a year ago after launching a rocket from out garage, the Mayor labeled him a terrorist and his bail is about forty thousand more dollars than Kon or I have."

"Oh…" Laney said sorrowfully. "I'm sorry,"

"It's okay…" Corey said lowly. "You really were their mom, I can't keep them in control at all," He laughed a little. "Where did you go?"

"Utah, Salt Lake City Utah," Laney said but Corey couldn't quite figure out how she felt about saying it. "Dad got a job there, paid better than here, so without much warning, he decided that we were moving… I guess you and he had that in common,"

"Yeah…" Corey and Laney shared a moment of silence and stared at their table for a moment.

"Uh, who wants a beer?" Kon asked to break the silence, Corey and Laney both raised their hands; they made eye contact and laughed a little to themselves.

"Uh, no, Laney is fine thank you, we have water." Chet said and Laney put her hand down.

"Come on Goldilocks, let her do what she wants," Corey chuckled. "One beer won't kill her, she's a grown woman, what do you want Lanes?" Laney's eyes went back and forth between Corey's relaxed face and Chet's impatient expression; she mumbled some words before actually saying anything.

"Maybe… Just one?" She asked more than said, but it was enough for Corey to put the order in.

"Laney, the lord will not forgive this easily," Chet warned her and Laney uncomfortably stared at her feet for a time.

"Well, Kon and I have one more set to play, then we'll get out of here," Corey said returning with their drinks. "Stay beautiful you two, we'll be back." He and Kon started to set up their instruments once again on the stage, leaving Laney and Chet once again.

"Laney, be careful around that man," Chet warned her again. "You know him, and you know what he's like, so I'm asking you, please be careful around him."

"Chet, I'm going to fall back in love with Corey the second I see him, we were close though… It's good to see him again, Kon too," She raised the bottle Corey had provided to her lips when Chet slapped it out of her hand and it crashed into pieces on the floor. "What the hell!?"

"You've never had alcohol before! You might get drunk the second that poison touches your lips," Laney balled her hands into fists and cringed in anger at him. She was about ready to smack him when an idea hit, and she let it all go. Calmly, Laney stood up from the chair and went to the back of the bar, retrieved her bass from its mount on the wall and climbed on stage with Corey and Kon.

"Uh… Lanes? Do you actually know any of the notes to our new songs?" Corey asked nervously.

"I didn't know the notes to any of the songs we played as children either, I seemed to do just fine then, and I'll do just fine now."

"Rock on Lanes, count us in Kon," Corey smiled.

"1…2….3…4!"

The night was still and quiet as the four sat in the silence of Corey's car. The back seat was cramp and parts of the side mirror were chipped, but the car could move and get them where they needed to go. Kon and Chet were shoved in the back while a drunken Corey tried to give directions to Laney behind the wheel.

"We haven't had that much fun on stage in months!" Corey laughed from the passenger seat. "Lanes you rock harder than ever,"

"Thanks Core, but uh… We're still lost," She said and Corey began looking around where they were.

"No were not, take this street up and turn right, we should be back at the Riffen house in no time."

"I'm surprised by how well you handle your alcohol Mr. Riffen," Chet said from the window Kon had him crammed against.

"Corey's always drunk, you just can't ever tell!" Kon cheered happily and Corey received odd stares from both Laney and Chet.

"Not the time Kon…" Corey sheepishly said, "Take this left, and… There!" He pointed to the old house of at the end of the street. The neighborhood no longer held the same joy it once had, several houses were foreclosed, including Laney's old house, lawns were no longer tended and the whole atmosphere of a peace in Peaceville has left. The Riffen house stood in fair condition, a window was broken in, but that was small time compared to the rest of the houses. "Home sweet home," Corey said and pressed a button inside the garage to make the doors raise letting Laney park the rust bucket inside the garage. Kon was the first to be let out, then Chet, finally being able to breathe, but Laney and Corey seemed to hold off for a moment.

"Core?" Laney turned to him and he quickly looked at her. "I'm sorry," And when Corey didn't say anything she continued. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, and for breaking your guitar and anything else I did…"

"I..." Corey began. "Me too… I'm sorry I assumed you wanted what I did, and I'm sorry for not listening to you…"

"So… We're still tight?" Laney offered.

"Yeah dude, we're tight." He said and they shared a fist pound. "Where the hell did you find Goldie Locks there?"

"He's… An old friend, just give him a chance, he's a pretty cool guy… Once you get past his… Philosophy on life, and the fact he's a complete ass hat…" That sent Corey into a light laugh.

"Alright Lanes, you've had a long day, let's get you to bed," And Corey pushed open the door to the garage. Laney shortly followed and took in what the new garage looked like. It was clearly the same garage, but it had aged, changed, just like Corey and Kon. Much like the bar, the garage was covered in graffiti of all kinds. The biggest being the large lightning blue heart with a crack going down its center painted on the far right wall, but the rest were pretty generic. For a garage, the floor was very well kept, there was almost no sign of a mess whatsoever, the old couch was still set up in front of their flat screen T.V. a few chairs were scattered about, but for the most part, it was still the garage Laney remembered.

"Where are we sleeping?" Chet asked.

"Laney can have Trina's old room, Goldie Locks can have my old room and Kon and I will chill out here," Corey quickly answered and flopped onto the couch.

"Movie marathon?" Kon asked him.

"Hell yeah dude,"

"Don't stay up too late," Laney said, ascending the stairs to Trina's room. "I'm not going to become evil by sleeping up here am I?"

"Nah, Kin was sleeping there for awhile actually, it's been rock-tified so you should be good," Corey called up as his first movie started. "Good night Lanes,"

"Good night, Core don't keep Kon up too late, he needs his sleep," She ordered.

"I missed you too mom!" Kon called back to her and Laney just rolled her eyes at the statement.

Laney opened the door to Trina's room and took in the newly designed room. All the pink was expunged, replaced with old experiments and crazy contraptions of Kin's, the walls were brown and covered in posters from scientist and rock bands alike and it felt, homely to Laney. The bed was now simple white sheets and wooden posts, but it was just as soft and cushy as when Trina left it and Laney melted into its embrace when she fell on it. Falling asleep in all her clothes wasn't the plan, but that's what happened, and without realizing how tired she was, she fell asleep right there.

Corey and Kon were watching a zombie movie without much interest, the screen was the only light provided in the room. Kon turned to Corey as some woman screamed to her death on the screen.

"Saw it coming," Corey said with a bored expression.

"Corey, Laney is back," Kon said still in complete joy, "Isn't that fantastic?"

"Yeah Kon… Yeah it is,"

"Kon feels as if you're not as excited as he is,"

"I don't know… It's great she's back, I'm thrilled, but, now what? I've spent all this time hoping she'd come back to us and now that she is… I don't know what I expected, did I expect her to come running back into my arms, just so we could yell at each other again? Sure we were kids, but I'm more of a scumbag than ever now, and she's into that preppy asshole she brought with her…"

"Well, then shouldn't we be happy she's happy?" Kon offered.

"She's not happy Kon, she hasn't craved fun this much since she heard we were doing a puppet show for a bunch of kids… Why does she keep him around…"

"Can we go visit Kin tomorrow?" Kon changed the subject.

"Oh…" Corey rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh... Not tomorrow dude, we got… That thing,"

"Oh, right of course, how could I forget the thing," Kon laughed to himself. "Well, Laney told me to get some shut eye, so I'm going to bed now, goodnight Corey."

"Goodnight Kon…" Corey nodded and turned off the T.V. for them to sleep on the couch. So, the week of Christmas began, and it could not have been more of a hell for everyone involved. Tension quickly rose between Corey and Chet, which in turn cause tension between Laney and Corey, and Kon refused to take either Corey or Laney's side, it was simply put, a bad situation, until the Thursday before Christmas.


	3. And We Danced

Light speckled on Laney's face as she felt herself wake up. Her eyes fluttered a bit before opening, and she closed them again as soon as they were open. "Uh…" She grunted and covered her face with a pillow. The bed felt twice as comfy as when she fell asleep and getting up was the last thing she wanted to do. She readjusted herself and tried to fall asleep once again only to find herself unable. "I hate life…" She grumbled trying to get up. She looked at her outfit, completely wrinkled and made her way to the suite case she left in Corey's car. Kicking open the door to down stairs, the sound of whatever Corey and Kon were watching filled the air. "In celebrity relationship news;" A woman's voice said as Laney made her way down stairs and saw Kon and Corey sitting on the couch watching very closely to what the woman would say next. "It is believed Gwen is indeed with child, but when interviewed Duncan responded by leaving our camera crew unconscious, more at eleven."

"You guys like that show?" Laney asked behind them.

"Yes!" Kon fangirled, "Ever since Kin left, I've made Corey watch all five seasons! I can't believe Courtney tried to sue them for their baby…"

"I think Duncan and I buy our stuff from the same store…" Corey said looking at the skull on his hat.

"Wow, what tough men you are, watching anything with Total Drama in the name." Laney laughed to herself. "What time is it?"

"You'd like it, there's lots of punching, and breaking of various bones, it's great." Corey said and turned around to face her. "Like, five?" He turned to Kon for a second opinion but he shrugged.

"In the morning?" She asked which was met with laughter by Kon and Corey.

"Oh god no, it's five in the afternoon" Kon said still holding his sides.

"Holy shit…" Laney put a hand on her forehead, "Do you guys even have a shower?"

"Of course we do, it's that door right there," Corey pointed to the old a door that led to the old bathroom they had set up as kids.

"Okay… If either of you peep on me I'll leave your corpses for the buzzards,"

"I don't know, that might be worth it to finally see you naked," Corey shrugged and quickly felt a boot crash against his head. "Ow," And he turned to see Laney with a small smile on. "Nice shot,"

"I'm a master of throwing combat boots," She called back. "Alright I'll be out in a minute." And with that Corey and Kon returned to their show.

"What the hell happened between Herald and Leshawna, or Owen and Izzy?" Corey asked out of the blue

"I have no idea," Kon answered.

"Riffen," A voice came from the hallway leading to the garage.

"Goldilocks! How'd you sleep?" Corey called throwing his arms in the air.

"Don't call me that, where is Laney?"

"In the shower dude,"

"I must speak with her."

"Well the doors right there, feel free to barge in on her completely naked." Corey pointed without looking away from the T.V. "Hey, why did you guys come here in the first place?"

"I came with Laney, she wanted to come home for Christmas and I asked to come with her."

"Do you know why?" Corey asked again.

"No," He answered simply.

"Well Kon," Corey stood up off the couch. "We have eight days until Christmas and therefore, eight days to spend with Laney, let's make the best of it,"

"Yeah!" Kon clapped his hands. "How?"

"When do I not have a plan?" Corey asked slightly offended. "You in Goldilocks?"

"Please stop calling me that..." Chet was practically burning with rage. "What exactly do you have planned before I agree to anything?"

"There are two sources of entertainment around here, drinking and dancing, there's a fancy club in the more urban area of the city, so that's where we're going." Corey said with satisfaction as the bathroom door opened with a toweled Laney.

"Not a word Corey," She said and made her way to retrieve her bag.

"Wear something loose, we're going dancing tonight!" Corey cheered and received a menacing stare from Laney in response.

"Core, you know I hate dancing,"

"Yes I do, Lanes,"

"Then why the hell are we going?" She pressed him.

"Because I'm a horrible person who wants to subject you to the most horrible torture known to man; dancing in public," Corey said proudly.

"Huh… I'll see what I can find to wear… But when this night ends in a disaster, it's your fault."

"Noted, what do you guys want to do in the mean time?" Corey asked and Laney retreated to her new room.

"Ping Pong?" Kon offered

"Ping Pong?" Chet asked more as a question.

"Ping Pong it is then!" Corey chimed and ran to the table.

Laney looked at the outfit she'd chosen, a black, low cut club wear dress that hugged her figure quiet nicely. She laughed at herself for having it, but deep down, she was excited to be wearing it. It wasn't often she got to be cute, but when she decided to be cute, she made it her business to make sure no one was cuter. After furiously battling her hair into its normal short look, adding some dangling green earrings and readjusting her dark make up, it was time to reappear before the guys. She flung the door open just as a ping pong ball zipped past her face.

"How the hell did you do that!" Chet's voice came.

"What?" Kon and Corey both asked.

"You turned the freaking ball blue and shot it at a million miles an hour!"

"Oh, that, we're just freaking awesome at Ping Pong," Corey said simply.

"Yeah! We like, practice whenever we're bored and we're bored a lot now a day's…"

"Ahem," Laney said from the stairs and all three of them turned to face her as their jaws dropped.

"Damn Lanes…" Corey was the first to speak. "You really do make a cute girl,"

"Damn right I do, but there is no way I'm showing up with you three dressed like that," And all the men examined their attire. "Change. Now." She ordered.

"I don't know, I might need some persuasion to look any better than this," Corey answered.

"I could your balls so hard you can't walk for the next two days, how's that?"

"I was looking more on the side of bribery,"

"Just go change, something worth being seen in public with please."

"I will change for you," Chet cut it.

"See, why can't you be like Chet here," Laney said but her gaze never left Corey, and her smile never seemed to leave.

"Eh, maybe if you say please," Corey kept with their game and Laney put on the biggest fake smile she could muster.

"Please?" She mocked innocence and batted her eyes at him.

"Close enough, alright, we'll reconvene in thirty minutes, dibs on the shower!" Corey called and ran through the door first. The others dispersed thereafter, leaving Laney alone in the garage. She took in the surroundings again sitting where Kon and Corey once did on the couch and found her eyes drawn to the graffiti heart once again. The room was still and quiet, and so many memories came flooding back to her, Corey had asked her to their first date on the very stage that was still set up in the garage. Or when Kin almost blew up the entire house with an enormous amp, it all seemed like her best days were behind her.

"I painted that after you left…" Corey said from behind her, still wet and a towel wrapped around his waist.

"The heart?" Laney looked back to it. "Yeah, I guess we both did stupid stuff after that fight…"

"Well, I did fix my guitar," He laughed a little, but that wasn't exactly what Laney was talking about "Uh, all my clothes are in here… Could you… Leave?"

"Oh, right of course…" And she quickly removed herself from the garage and into the actual Riffen house, which she spent almost no time in as a child, so it was all new. The small kitchen that was only separated from the living room by a doorframe which held a small sofa and another T.V, nothing like the garage, it was clean, no paint, no atmosphere, simply, a house. Kon was the first to reappear, in a suit that was clearly too small, but his hair was down and he looked adequate.

"Oh Kon, you look adorable," Laney mused and started playing with little parts of his look to slightly improve them. Unbuttoning his suit so he could breathe, slicking his hair back, the small stuff that kept him alive and looking fine. "There, better?"

"Well I'm not suffocating, so that's a good sign." Kon joked with his cheery grin. "Let's go party the night away!"

"Not yet, bro," Corey said as he entered the kitchen of the Riffen house. "Still gotta wait for Goldilocks," He adorned what Laney guessed were the nicest clothes he hand, a button down collared shirt, that seemed to be very loose and embroidered with various patterns, dark jeans with a chain running on his hip and no hat for once.

"Looking good Core," Laney smiled.

"You're not half bad yourself Lanes, but you're going to need a jacket."

"I have a leather jacket?" She offered.

"Hot."

"Shut up Core," She playfully pushed his shoulder and went to retrieve her jacket. Chet came in shortly after, dressed in a fine white collared shirt, black slacks and very fine shoes.

"Damn Goldilocks… We're not going to Church…" Corey said examining his attire.

"This is all I have, it'll have to do, it's not as if I plan on dancing, just sitting at a booth with Laney."

"Unless she gets on the dance floor!" Kon cheered.

"She won't. I know Laney better than anyone." Chet said with conviction and his nose in the air. Just then the woman in question remade her appearance, adorning a light jacket, covered in zippers and patches and logos from famous rock n' roll bands.

"It… Was on sale… "She said sheepishly rubbing her arm.

"It's awesome Lanes, let's go have dinner since you've been asleep all day," Corey faced the group. "There's this little kick ass bar that—"

"Absolutely not." Chet cut him off. "We're going somewhere with morals, somewhere people don't throw up as soon as they finish eating."

And two hours later, all four sat in one of the very few surviving four star restaurants in Peaceville. Soft music could constantly be heard in the background, and all the waiters were dressed in black tie attire, fine table clothes, wooden chairs, it was the epitome of everything Rock was not and Corey hated it. He sat uncomfortably shifting in his chair, trying to remain calm and failing. At least Kon was with him, someone to grumble with made things better somehow. Laney was sitting across from Corey, looking very pleasant and happy to be around such a high class.

"And for your dinner sir?" The waiter asked Corey.

"Uh… Do you have anything that weighs more than two ounces?" He tried looking over the menu for the hundredth time.

"Yes indeed, the meat lover's steak is two point five ounces." The waiter happily reported.

"That's fine…" Corey grunted.

"Excellent choice sir how would you like that cooked? Ultra rare, super rare, rare…" The waiter went on.

"Who the fuck needs so many kinds of rare…" Corey whispered to himself. "Medium,"

"Marvelous choice, not soup or salad?"

"Uh… Soup?"

"Brilliant choice, now we have sixty two types of soup…" And Corey sighed again and silently slammed his head against the table. The waiter finally left, to Corey's great enjoyment and looked back up to Laney.

"How can you stand this place?" He asked her.

"It's pleasant, and calm, and I feel important here, plus the food is very well prepared." She answered daintily.

"Who the hell cares how it's made, Kon can make a steak twice the size for three times less the price, I mean, we're doing well, but not this well…" Corey read the menu one more time. "They charge ten bucks for bread?" He shot up in horror.

"It's called class, maybe you should look it up some time," Chet cut in and swiped Corey's menu away.

"I'll kick your class…" Corey muttered to Kon and they shared a fist bump under the table. "What is this music? It's almost as bad as elevator music…"

"What? You think some rock would kick this place up?" Laney asked with what seemed to be genuine interest.

"Rock kicks everything up Lanes,"

"Her name is Laney," Chet raised his voice.

"If my name offends her, then she can tell me herself." Corey threatened back.

"She doesn't know how, because you're impossible to talk to,"

"I am not, Lanes, am I hard to talk to?" He turned to her looking off to the side. "Lanes?"

"Well… Not in general… But, you never really talk about anything serious is all…" She said without making eye contact with him.

"I… Really?" Corey backed down. "I can be serious, sometimes… When I need to be,"

"This isn't really the place to talk about this," Laney said in a panicked voice.

"Of course," Chet said as if he had just one some sort of game. "It looks as if our food is here." Corey was silent the rest of dinner, Kon was too but probably only due to Corey's silence. Chet wore a victorious smile at Corey's demeanor and Laney just tried to focus on eating, it was not a pleasant dinner.

The sun was just setting as their car pulled into a parking lot a few blocks from the club, but even it was relatively full. However, their salvation came in the form of a spot, and all four quickly bailed out. Laney and Chet walked ahead of Kon and Corey, and no one was talking.

"Kon, I can be serious, you know that right?" Corey finally spoke up.

"Totally dude! You were super serious when Kin was taken away, you were a solid bro." And Kon patted him on the back. "Laney just hasn't seen you in awhile is all."

"Yeah… You don't think she's…. Attracted to that guy, do you?"

"No, no, well… Maybe a little…" And Corey's shoulder's dropped a bit. "But what do you care? You're Corey Riffen! You could get any girl in this town and we're going to the best place to find girls in the whole town!" Kon said with conviction and Corey's spirits returned.

"Yeah, yeah!" Corey cheered. "I'm Corey Riffen,"

"You're not still concerned with that slump of a man are you?" Chet asked Laney who was huddled into her jacket with only her pale legs exposed.

"Why did you tell him I said that about him?" She said with a tad of anger.

"He needs to know where he stands with you, he needs to know you won't take back."

"Yeah." Laney said more to herself than him.

"Besides there are better guys than him, he's a scumbag and you deserve a prince."

"I don't want a prince Chet…" Laney said once again with a hint of anger as they turned the corner and the club's lights blared in their faces. Laney threw her hand in front of her vision so she could at least make out the sign. 'Mi Amor' it read, and the cold air seemed to cease as the four of them came closer and closer to it. Lights of pinks blues and purples danced around the entrance sign, people of all kinds were going in by the dozen and people were literally trickling out, their faces sullen and disappointed.

"Welcome to Mi Amor," Corey chimed as they all entered. The bass vibrated Laney's skin the second they entered, the flashing lights painted the whole building and they only thing that seemed to be constant, was the mass of people dancing in the center of the room. A D.J. stood at the end of the main hall of the first floor and people happily drank on the floor above. The building was alive and bouncing and no one was going to stop it. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Corey asked Kon and they ran into the crowd of people. Chet grunted at their childish behavior, only to find Laney absent from his side as well, only her jacket remained, and it was casually thrown over a chair.

"Stupid girl…" He muttered to himself.

Among the crowd, Corey and Kon were moving to the music and catching plenty of people's attention. Kon could robot like no other, even without Kin, and Corey was unmatched in the field of break dancing, a small circle formed around them as Corey broke into a head spin. "Blue hair is one freaky dude!" Somebody cried out. "Go Robo man!" Someone else could be heard. They did this for the next three songs played and drew a big enough crowd to gain a spotlight but eventually their physic came into play, and Corey put both hands in the air to signify he was done, but Kon kept going as hard as ever. As Corey tried to sneak away from the crowd, he felt someone wrap themselves around his waist and hold him there.

"Uh… Hi?" Corey said down to the girl who he'd never seen before. To be fair, she was attractive, but looked a few years younger than Corey.

"Oh my god, you're so hot!" She squealed.

"Heh… thank you, if you could just, let go of me, I'm kinda thirsty…"

"Wait, You totally have to dance with me,"

"Uh…" Corey weighed his options for a moment. "Sure, why not."

Laney had never felt so out of place than among these people, their town was near a totalitarian rule, but still they came here to spend all their money and dance the night away. She had found her way to the bar, just for a small martini without Chet condemning her to eternal hell fire when she spied Corey in the crowd. He was dancing with some girl with a low cut shirt that made her chest look bigger than it was, a skirt that rode way too high, big eyes and dark hair. At first, Laney laughed to herself, 'Well at least Core's having fun.' She thought, but the more she watched, something, grew in her gut, some feeling she hadn't in awhile. No, not a feeling, a voice, something she long since stopped listening to.

"That harpy has got the attention of our man!" Her heart snapped at her. Given, she had drunk several martinis at this point, but she was sure it was her old heart yelling at her.

"He's not our man anymore…" She argued with her heart.

"Bullshit! I love that guy and you're going to let some stupid slut get with him?"

"He can be with whoever he wants,"

"Denial! You're in denial!" And Laney didn't know what to say to that.

"Remember what happened last time we thought we loved him?" She tried to reason with her heart,

"Things are different now! You love him and you know you do! Just look at how she's trying to shake off her clothes at him!" She looked back to where Corey and the girl were dancing to see her trying to show off her breasts more than she was before. Rage crept into Laney's eyes, hate started to burn in her soul and her fists balled up.

"I really like you, maybe we could like, you and me could stop dancing and retire to a bathroom stall…" The girl seductively suggested and Corey stopped his dancing with an uncomfortable smile.

"Wow, but you're really hot and slutty and that's fantastic, but uh, I'm going to say no," Corey slowly backed away.

"Come on!" She grabbed his hand. "It'll be fun! You're not gay are you?"

"No… In both instances!" And Corey pulled out of his grip.

"PPleeeeassseee?"

"He said no!" Laney's voice came and she sent her fist into the girl's face, sending her stumbling backwards.

"Damn Lanes…" Corey said and Laney looked back at him with an ashamed expression. "That was awesome!" And she brightened up a little. "Solid punch, I think you drew blood."

"What!?" Laney panicked and checked her fist for blood.

"Kidding, but thanks for the save, she was going to try and sleep with me…"

"You… Didn't want that?" Laney asked staring up at him in awe. People continued to dance around them, but to Laney, it seemed like they were the only one's there.

"No, my first time is going to be special, not some sloppy bathroom sex…" Laney could feel her old feelings for him reawaken, though she continued to try and suppress them.

"Well, good, that's respectable." She tried to keep her cool.

"Come on, let's grab a drink," Corey pointed towards the bar. They both took a seat by the bar, and were quickly delivered their oddly colored specialty drinks. "So, I can't be serious?" He asked as she was taking a drink.

"Oh… I said that like… A year ago, Chet was an idiot for bringing it up, I think you're successful business proves you can be serious." Laney said uncomfortably. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings,"

"It's all good,: Corey said and returned to his drink.

"But, would it kill you to talk about your feelings for once?" Laney asked again. "I mean, you're very difficult to figure out,"

"That's intentional Lanes," Was all Corey offered as a response.

"Why? Would it be so bad to open up to someone?"

"If I did that, I would have less friends than I already have."

"Stop giving these dodgy answers!" Laney snapped louder than she meant to. "Oh… Sorry, but damnit Corey, can't you just tell me why you refuse to talk about yourself?"

"Well when was the last time you talked about you Lanes?"

"When was the last time anybody asked about me?" She said into her drink.

"I wouldn't mind listening if you wanted to talk about you."

"No Corey, not right now, right now I just want to drink, I've never had a martini, these things are fantastic!" Laney proclaimed with a slight wobble.

"Oh shit…" Corey said. "Lanes, how many of those things have you had?"

"Not many, like… Five, eight, nine including this one,"

"I think that's enough for you,"

"Now you sound like Chet, so stuck up and thinks he's better than everyone… Can I get another of these?" She called and was quickly provided with such. "Thank you."

"Lanes, that's your last one okay?"

"Fuck that, coming back here has been the most fun I've had in years!" Laney stood up from her stool but Corey quickly stopped her, his hands firmly holding her shoulder.

"And I'm real glad you're back," Corey said right in her face. "But I think that you should—" And Laney pulled his face towards hers and kissed him. He could still taste the alcohol on her lips, but Corey had to admit, the feeling of her soft lips against his felt like a breath of fresh air from all the problems people were dealing with. It was a short kiss, but enough to shut him up. "You're really drunk…" He finally said.

"Yup," She said with a hiccup.

"I'm taking you home…" Corey said and moved to pick her up but she just took by the hand.

"I want to dance first,"

"No you don't you're drunk," Corey reminded her.

"Alright, if you dance with me right now, you can take us home as soon as this song is over."

"…Fine… But you try to get out of your clothes I'm carrying you home."

"Shut up and dance," She ordered and with an unbelieving sigh, Corey began to move his body in tune with hers and the music. For being slightly off her ass, Laney seemed to be able to move just fine, her hips moved in time with the music, her feet didn't stubble over themselves, and as she moved, Corey could feel his mind loosing itself and become lost in her. The music seemed to course through her, as if her heart was creating the beat, and Laney was just, enjoying the moment. To hell with skepticism, or taking precautions, she was just having fun with her best friend and the two continued to move together for far longer than one song. As another song came to an end, Corey slowed his movements and looked to Laney who had a content smile on, then, without warning, She grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him into a much longer, much more passionate kiss.


	4. Here We Are

"Uh…" Laney said and moved her hand across the bed where she was lying, her head was throbbing like someone thought it'd be hilarious to pound it with a hammer. She tightened her grip on the white pillow, before shooting up in realization of where she was. She was still in her small cocktail dress, and her small heeled shoes were by the door leading into Trina's room. She opened the blind of the window to reveal storm clouds forming and the sun nowhere to be seen. Changing into something more comfortable to be in, Laney trudged down the stairs to an empty and very quiet garage. She looked around but until her eyes rested on her blue haired companion, sitting on the couch, the only person she wasn't very excited to confront. She tried to sneak past him into the shower, but as soon as she took a step on the cold cement floor, Corey perked up and turned to face her.

"Hey," He said with a simple smile.

"Hey Core…" Laney said looking off to the side.

"I wanted to talk to you,"

"Yeah… I needed that too…"

"Oh, sweet, you go first." Corey kept his happy demeanor.

"Alright…" Laney said and took a seat on the couch next to him. "Well, that… Kiss,"

"Was awesome," Corey cut in.

"Yeah," She awkwardly laughed to the side. "But, it… It shouldn't have happened, you know that right? I was drunk and you probably had a few drinks too, so let's just… Pretend it never happened huh?"And Corey was silent at first. "I mean, I love you, but I'm in love with Chet, so…"

"Yeah, I was going to say that too," He replied with a sweet smile.

"Really?" Laney had an odd mixture of surprise and relief. "Well, uh, good, so… Yeah, glad we're on the same page, and… I'll just, go shower now."

"Alright, go for it Lanes." Corey nodded and she left his side. He heard the door to the bathroom open and shut again, before he let out the biggest sigh of his life.

"You idiot…" He said to himself. "You knew she didn't actually want you and you kissed her anyway… God damnit…" Just then, the garage door flew open, Kon cheerily stood behind it, a box of Christmas lights in his hand.

"I got the Christmas stuff!" Kon proclaimed and came to Corey's side. "So, did you tell Laney?"

"No… Plans changed Kon…" Corey said looking at the ceiling.

"Well, you should tell her anyway." Kon pushed him.

"I have to get more lights or something, if you wanna come, come, but I have to get out of here right now," Corey grabbed the keys out of his pocket and walked to his car.

"I'll come!" Kon shouted and ran into the passenger seat. Corey angrily shut his door and pulled out to the street. "Corey, are you mad at Laney?"

"What? No!" Corey quickly answered. "Never, I'm mad at myself,"

"Why? Despite the snow on the road, and the currently falling light snow, Corey was driving very fast, and Kon sunk into his seat a little.

"Because I thought that I was what she wanted, just because of some stupid, drunken kiss… That's not even very significant, I'm over reacting, and I shouldn't be as sad as I am right now…." Corey's voice cracked a little near the end.

"It's Laney, Corey, not some girl you just met at a bar, she's important to you and it hurts to know that she doesn't feel the same way, shit you've been writing songs about her since you were a teenager," Kon spoke, surprisingly wisely.

"But… why? Why doesn't she want me? What's so god damned special about, that guy?"

"He's probably one of her closest friends, she probably was all by herself for awhile when she moved."

"So? She's back now; can't we just go back to the way things were?"

"You mean fighting every day, after practice? You wanna go back to that?"

"I'm different now Kon, you know that, but… I guess you're right… She can do better than me,"

"That's not what I said Corey, I said that that's what she's afraid of."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is you must show her the difference, she's not going to running back into your arms without a little assertion that you're different." Corey starred at Kon for a good long moment while the car was stopped at a light. This was definitely not the same Kon who was chanting about Christmas lights ten seconds ago.

"Kon?" Corey said uneasily. "I think you just channeled your inner Kin…"

"Really?" Kon chimed. "I also knew that part of him was in that sandwich I ate!"

"Ah, there's the Kon I know." Corey smiled and kept heading to purchase their Christmas lights.

Laney was sitting on the couch of the Riffen house, the T.V. on and the atmosphere quiet. "Huh… Okay this show isn't that bad…" She said to herself. Footsteps came from behind her and a quick glanced revealed a tired looking Chet entering the room.

"You're actually watching this garbage?" He sat down next to her.

"Alright, I'll bite, what does the bible say about bad T.V. shows?" She said with a roll of her eyes.

"Nothing, I just think they're pointless and stupid." He said with a shrug.

"You think everything fun is pointless and stupid…"

"I find reading fun, just like you."

"I read books, you read the same book four thousand times in order to misinterpret it to hate on people you don't like." She said harshly and Chet scooted away from her.

"Is something wrong Laney?"

"Of course not, it's just time someone told you how stupid you sound when you deny two people who love each other from getting married…"

"Ah, I see what this is about." Chet nodded.

"Gay rights?" Laney said unsure of how it could be interpreted any other way.

"You and the dunce who thinks Rock and Roll and nice words will save the world, you still have feelings for him."

"What? No, Chet, he broke my heart."

"Is that why you kissed him?" He hissed.

"No! I was drunk, and—"

"You were drunk!" Chet said, completely appalled. "I forbade you from even touching alcohol!" Laney was silent for a moment, but her anger bubbling over.

"Who the fuck are you to tell me I can't drink?" She snarled. "All you've done on this trip is bitch, moan, and tell me that I'm going to hell, well guess what? I've been to hell, and it's a hell of a lot better than listening to you talk all damn day! Can't I just have some fun for once in awhile?"

"What does fun matter when your time on this world is so short compared to eternity? What would you prefer to do, spend your days running around with these idiots? Living for the moment? You'd hate that."

"I'm sick of you telling me of what I want, I want to have fun, I want to rock, I want to spend time with my friends, I want to get drunk, I want Corey!" She yelled in the heat of the moment.

"Ah hah! You are attracted to that horrible man."

"No! I just—"

"Is that why you came back here for Christmas? To rekindle some lost romance with a dead beat in a town of sinners? Really Laney, how much lower can you get?" Laney's eyes were on fire, she hadn't been this ablaze since the Halloween when people thought she was a costume. Fire radiated from her like the sun, and Chet slowly began to back away.

"Get out. Of my. House." Laney said calmly, though she made no effort to hide the anger that was laced in her words. No sooner had she said the words that Chet was gone from the garage.

Corey and Kon pulled into the garage, laughing about something the other said, but their laughter ceased when they saw their charred garage. "What the…" Corey said and opened the door. The couch was burned to a crisp, the T.V. was face down, burning, there were scorch marks on the ground and the roof, the only thing that seemed to survive the blast was the ping pong table. "Did Kin come back and blow up the place?"

"I don't think so… Usually the whole house is gone when Kin has an experiment." Kon said.

"Hang on…" Corey stopped Kon so that he'd be silent. "Hear that?" And Kon shook his head. "Sobbing… Laney's crying!" Corey cried out and ran up the stairs as fast as he could with Kon right behind him.

"Lanes!" Corey kicked in her door, to find her lying on her back with her mascara running down her cheeks. "Lanes, what's up? Are you oaky?"

"Do I fucking look okay?" She asked through her tears.

"Well, you look as cute as you usually do," Corey shrugged and that made Laney slightly smile, but she didn't want to smile right now. "What happened?"

"I yelled at Chet…" She reluctantly said.

"Ah, that's why the garage was on fire…"

"I put the fires out…" She said slightly ashamed.

"If you yelled at him, why are you upset?" And Laney sniffled a bit before answering.

"He was the only one who cared about me… The only one who treated me like a woman… And I yelled at him for trying to do what he thought was best for me…"

"There's a big difference between what he thinks is best for you and what's best for you," Corey said and wiped a tear from her eye. Kon taking a note from the scene, slowly backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. "Laney, fuck everyone else in the world right now, what do you think is best for you?"

"I don't know… I don't know a lot of things right now… Just leave me alone Core,"

"What about music? Does that make sense?"

"Music always makes sense, I don't see why that's relevant." And Corey pulled her up so she was on her feet.

"Because I lied before, I lied about not wanting you, and I lied about wanting to forget last night, Laney I know I hurt you when we were kids, and I know I don't really deserve another chance, but if you're up for it… Lanes… Laney, can we… Try again?"

"I…" Laney's eyes darted around room, trying to rest on anything that wasn't Corey. "I don't know Core… Either, you've changed, and then I'd need to reintroduce myself to you, or you haven't and then things wouldn't be any better than last time. Now what on Earth does this have to do with music?" She asked and Corey grew an eager grin.

"There used to be a love between us," He sung and Laney laughed a little.

"You can't be serious," She said covering her mouth to hide her smile. Corey didn't say anything, simply waited for her to sing her part and with a sigh, "Then suddenly that Love was gone." She sung back.

"Now everywhere I go you're missing," He sung as they slowly inched towards each other.

"Like a hairless cat it feels so wrong…"

"I let 'we' be about 'me'," And Corey slid his hands around her waist.

"And I let us fall apart..." Laney put her arms around his neck.

"Wrong is what I know I'll always be,"

"Can we de-end and restart?" And they closed the gap between their lips. It was the first time in awhile Corey felt simply blissful, like for once, living in this awful town wasn't such a bad thing, that for once, he didn't need a crazy plan, because everything already worked itself out.

"So…" He asked when they finally parted. "Can we?.. Restart I mean…"

"Yeah… Yeah I'd like that," Laney nodded her head.

"Don't most people have their romantic moments on Christmas?" Corey laughed a little.

"I guess we'll have to hurry if we want to get each other gifts…"

"I don't want anything, you're all I need,"

"Cliché Core," Laney laughed to herself, "But I couldn't agree more."


	5. But Wait! there's more

So life went on for Grojband, without Kin their music was never the same but that would change with Mayor Mellow's reintroduction to office. Though the city would take time to heal, it was a start. The Rock God's palace shrunk in popularity as family theaters and activities popped up once again, and it became known as a small bar that had good music. For Laney, nothing had changed, she still got to play music with her best friends, she still got to live in a garage and she still got to love the boy she admired since she met him. Life wasn't perfect, but it was... Nice. Kin was released from prison a few months after Mayor Jolly was removed, and for once, everything seemed to be looking up.

"Cannon ball!" Kon called and jumped into the Riffen pool.

"That splash was… 2.3% bigger than you're last one!" Kin happily reported. "And twice as likely to get COREY'S ATTENTION!" He purposefully shouted to Corey and Laney who seemed to be stuck to each other's faces in the hot tub. Without turning away from one another, both Corey and Laney flipped their middle fingers towards Kin. "Yeah yeah, love and shit…" Kin grumbled. "Alright Kon, let's see how well you can belly flop!"

"Is the bikini new?" Corey pulled away from Laney with a smirk on.

"Well I can't let you forget I'm a girl now can I?"

"You didn't have to, but you look cute."

"Cure wasn't what I was going for." She teased.

"Well if you were going for sexy, you managed to pull that off too,"

"There we go," She smiled and they resumed their previous activity.

"Guys!" Kin called but neither of them looked up. "Guys it's five fifty! We're supposed to perform at the Mayor Mellow's campaign victory speech in twenty minutes!" And that got their attention.

"Shit…" Corey said climbed out of the hot tub with Laney behind him.

"Shotgun!" She cried and ran to get some clothes on.

"Why is it called shotgun?" Kon asked Kin.

"Funny you should ask oh brother of mine, actually it comes from…" It took nearly ten minutes, but Grojband was packed and ready to go, except Laney was missing from the passenger seat.

"Lanes?" Corey called from out the window.

"Coming!" She responded from Trina's room. Laney turned back to the test to observe the results with growing worry, "Shit…" She muttered and threw the positive pregnancy test into a nearby trash can.

"Everything okay?" Corey asked as she buckled in next to him.

"Yeah, let's go!" She said panicked.

"Kin, you upgraded this thing right?"

"We should be able to make it to the Mayor's house in ten seconds, but it may cause out eye balls to slightly recede into our heads."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take! Let's role!" Corey proclaimed and the 'Groj-Car' tool off.

**Yay! Epilogues, I'm going to do more with this story, but not here! There will be a sequel or something to this... Because... I want to write a sequel! So there! Heh... Please don't hate me**


	6. Update for my readers

Hi People who follow this story, and maybe the people who follow me as a whole... Alright I forgot my Tumblr password and haven't put much effort into getting it back, so I'm updating here. Okay I haven't posted anything in like... Forever, reason for this is school starting. So yeah, I won't get much if anything done. Also why I'm not really updating is me and a friend of mine have begun work on a comic serious, we're gonna post it to deviantart and I get to write the script, so like my stories? You might like a group of the characters I created. Finally I have so many ideas! But not for Grojband at the moment... I have this idea for a League of Legends story, which I really want to write, but even if I did have time for that. I'd still feel like I was just screwing you guys, like "Oh you wanted Our December Part II? Nah, I'm gonna do whatever I want and you can read someone else." I don't do that. You guys matter to me, so I want to give you closer to that story... But I have no idea what I want to do with the story... I like hearing what you guys want to see. You're all important so... Yeah! This is the update of update-ness, and I will reply to any message sent my way or opinion you have. Also, to those of you who know what League of Legends is.. For the love of God Find me a Teemo and Tristana fic so I don't have to write one!


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